other than the attention he gave them. Obviously, many white southerners were dissatisfied with the national Democratic Party. Most remained loyal, if only for reasons of patronage and tradition. The unsuccessful Dixiecrat rebellion of 1948, when a group of largely Deep South Democrats broke with incumbent Harry Truman, stood as a lesson that the national Democratic majority could withstand southern defections. All of this served to make Eisenhower more attractive. Eisenhower's military stature and Cold War bona fides also helped. Finally, the growing economy of the post–World War II South led some southerners to identify more with the business wing of the GOP. In both the 1952 and 1956 elections, Eisenhower received particularly strong support from affluent white residents of large and small southern metropolitan areas, the very types of growing southern cities—the Greensboros and the Charlottes—that Graham frequented throughout the decade.31
Graham worked to bolster this new line of support. During the reelection campaign, he pledged to Eisenhower to “do all in my power during the coming campaign to gain friends and supporters for your cause.”32 At the time, Graham had more social ties with southern politicians than with any other political group (although his congressional friends were by no means limited to his home region). His own words and behavior reveal his deep admiration for those southerners whom he considered the region's “better sort” of leaders. This group included moderates, such as Tennessee governor Frank Clement and Oklahoma senator Robert Kerr—but also strong conservatives like Mississippi senator Stennis and South Carolina governor and former secretary of state James Byrnes. On this list were many persons who backed Eisenhower in 1952, including Byrnes, South Carolina congressman Mendel Rivers, and Alabama congressman Frank Boykin. As a friend and occasional confidant of numerous southern politicians who were supportive of Eisenhower, Graham could serve as an informal conduit between these Democrats and a Republican Party now seeking votes in Dixie. Graham team member Grady Wilson claimed to have also done his part to aid Eisenhower's cause in North Carolina during the 1952 election, but complained to Rivers about “those thick-headed Tarheels [who] would vote Democratic straight down the line even if the Devil himself were running.”33
Strategic interests aside, Graham held a deep personal attraction to Eisenhower as a national leader. The evangelist clearly delighted in his role as a spiritual influence on the president, having suggested that the denominationally unaffiliated Eisenhower join a Presbyterian church. On inauguration day in 1953, Eisenhower attended a private prayer service at the church Graham had recommended, National Presbyterian. (Soon afterward, Eisenhower was baptized there.)34 The election of Eisenhower raised Graham's hopes that evangelical Christianity had returned to national prominence. Days after the 1952 election, the evangelist told an audience that he had “sensed a dependence upon God” during two previous conversations with the president-elect.35 Graham desired to perpetuate the new status quo. The BGEA soon announced a new “permanent national headquarters” in Washington, D.C., for what Graham called the “non-political” purpose of “bring[ing] what influence I can, from a spiritual standpoint, to our national leaders.”36
Still, the evangelist was conscious of the precarious status of Eisenhower's gains in the South. Along with his father-in-law, Nelson Bell, Graham saw the need for more GOP outreach in the region.37 In 1956, Graham urged the president to wait until after the campaign to enact specific policies on desegregation. “I hope particularly before November you are able to stay out of this bitter racial situation that is developing,” wrote Graham. Meanwhile, he advised, “it might be well to let the Democratic Party bear the brunt of the debate.” Two months later, Graham expressed concern that the GOP's efforts to attract northern black voters might hinder its southern ambitions: “I am somewhat disturbed by rumors that Republican strategy will be to go all out in winning the Negro vote in the North regardless of the South's feelings. Again[,] I would like to caution you about getting involved in this particular problem. At the moment, to an amazing degree, you have the confidence of white and Negro leaders. I would hate to see it jeopardized by even those in the Republican Party with a political ax to grind.” Eisenhower took notice of the recommendation, although his campaign garnered many African American votes, including that of Martin Luther King, Jr.38
Even as Graham supported Eisenhower, he remained a registered Democrat. At the time, he rarely mentioned this status. The correspondence between Graham and Eisenhower revealed the evangelist as someone who, at least in the area of political strategy, thought like a national Republican during the 1950s. In 1954, Graham heard his friend Walter Judd speak at a Lincoln Day dinner in Asheville, an area of North Carolina with a traditional GOP presence. Graham recalled telling Judd afterward that if only his address could be delivered on national television, “we wouldn't have to worry about Congress remaining GOP controlled this fall” (emphasis mine).39
Graham and Nixon: Act 1
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